Chapter One: Now What?
by FlyingPotato666
Summary: it's a story with oc's 'n stuff.... i kno, i suck a summaries..... uhh what will happen? dun dun dun!


Chapter 1: …Now what?

(6 years ago, Ahara's POV)

I stood in my work clothes with my mother outside in the garden pulling weeds. We had finished unpacking the day before and there were two questions I had been meaning to ask her.

"Mother?" I asked timidly.

"Yes Ahara, what is it?" she smiled.

I fidgeted a little "Ca-can I ask you something?"

"Why, yes of course. Go ahead." she gave another warm, sweet smile.

"Well it's just that I was wondering and I just, um...kinda wanted to know, umm..."

"C'mon out with it!" she jokingly urged me.

"I-I was wondering: Why did daddy leave us all alone at first?"

Her smile quickly faded and a look of worry took over her face "Erm… uh, ahem," she cleared her throat "well Ahara I'm not quite sure why he--"

I cut her off "And why did he come back then leave again?"

Thinking quickly Koyuki looked up and said "Oh look at the time! We should be getting to bed, early start tomorrow. So go wash up and I'll come and tuck you in, alright?"

I sighed and said "Yes ma'am"

Later she came in after I brushed my teeth, changed into pj's and snuggled into bed. She gave me a light peck on the forehead, a hug and said good-night. But I didn't get to sleep that night, not at all, too busy thinking, too busy letting myself go into a rage at my mom 'cause she always changed the subject when I talked about dad always, always, always!

(The next morning) I woke up to the sound of sizzling bacon and the light aroma of eggs, but I didn't feel like getting up, I'd have rather sleep, then I heard my mother call me "AHARA COME ON DOWN ITS TIME FOR BREAKFAST!" I groaned and rolled over, my clock said 5:26 in the morning, I barely got one single minute of sleep the night before between that stupid dog's barking next door and me, thinking about just about everything I could. I heard her call again "AHARA WE KNOW YOU'RE UP, JUST COME DOWN AND EAT!"

I sighed, and yelled back "OOKAAAY MOM, BE RIGHT DOWN!" I finally got out of bed a few minutes later and made my way down the stairs, they creaked even under my slight weight and they were cold and hard on my small, tender feet.

When I came into the kitchen I saw my younger brother Irochou in his high-chair, mom was turning off the stove and she put my food on the table for me and said "Good morning sunshine." like she did every morning.

I yawned and stretched my arms out, then sat down to a breakfast of eggs and bacon. As I was finishing my last bite of egg, Mom called to me from the other room "Would you wipe your brothers face off for me please, Hun? And remember the faster you get ready the faster you can go and play." This thought made me work overtime on my chores. I've always loved being outside and just being away from everything.

(Later) I had finished my chores and as I was walking from my house to the forest when I heard soft footsteps from behind me, I looked back, there was some kind of cat thing behind me with a pinkish red goop all over its snout, I figured it was eating something. I looked down and my pack was open and strawberries had been falling out. _So that's what she was eating_, I thought. I crouched down and looked into her deep red eyes and knew she wasn't a threat, I patted her on the head and she climbed up onto my shoulder and wagged her three fox-like tails and sort of smiled.

"I like you too." I said to her and she stayed on my shoulder and by my side while I walked along the river bank and I started to get drowsy, so I sat down against a tree to take a little nap, and she curled up in my lap to sleep too.

????'s POV

I had been walking with Akamaru when I noticed something propped against a tree… it was a girl, and she was… sleeping?! But what was she doing way out here in the middle of the forest? Only one way to find out I decided, I walked over and crouched down in front of her and some sort of fox? No, it was like a cat or something, jumped out of her lap and onto my face. It flailed its limbs wildly, clawing up my face.

"Aghh! Hey, easy, easy!" I yelled.

She woke up "Whoa! Jeez, don't do that!" She blurted out. I jumped and took a step backwards; causing the animal to jump off my face and return to the girl's lap. In an instant she had calmed down and scratched behind the cat's black and white ears.

"Oh sorry about that, I-I didn't know you were there." she had an uncomfortable grin on her face. Puzzled, the cat on her lap looked up at me and made some strange noise like a bark and a mew combined, I guessed it was only a baby.

"Hi," she said "my name's Ahara." she stood up and reached out a hand, I took it.

"And who's that on your shoulder?" I asked with a small smile, then stopped shaking her hand. She looked over at it and paused for a moment.

"This is Kiara." Kiara mewed as if saying hello.

"Kiba." I simply stated, Akamaru barked "Oh" I said "and this is Akamaru."

"Nice to meet you both." she said.

"Uhh, you too" I said.

(Ahara's POV)

I woke up to yelling and struggling.

"Whoa! Jeez, don't do that!" I said loudly, startled by this person that seemed to come out of no where. Then I figured out that the cat was attacking him. He jumped and so did the cat, back into my lap. The boy stood there a moment covering his scratched up face with both hands, after a while he pulled them away, he had two large, red upside-down triangles on each cheek.

"Oh sorry about that, I-I didn't know you were there." I said, a little embarrassed. The cat made a weird noise, then we were quiet a while.

"Hi," I said "my name's Ahara" I stood up and held out a hand for him to shake, he shook it.

"And who's on you shoulder?" he gave a little smile.

I thought about it for a minute and finally said "This is Kiara" She mewed.

"Kiba." the dog barked "Oh, and this is Akamaru."

"Nice to meet you guys"

He hesitated a bit "Uh, you too…"

Kiba couldn't have been more than 6 or 7, a little younger than I was, we walked around and climbed trees while Kiara and Akamaru played on the ground. We talked a while about our lives and families Kiba cracked a few jokes, I laughed at most of them and smiled at the others. I had noticed that it was getting dark.

"Oh, I should probably get going. Mom doesn't really like it when I stay out after dark." I said, he nodded.

(Kiba's POV)

After a while she told me she had to go home and when we were walking back my stomach growled loudly. I grinned and rubbed the back of my neck.

"I guess we've been out here longer than I thought…"

"Here take these home with you, Mom gave 'em to me before I left. And don't worry, we've got more than enough at home, give them to your mother. Maybe she'll make a dessert for you or something."

I hesitated but then took the small bag of strawberries she had been holding out. "Umm, thanks…?" I said.

"It's not a problem." she smiled sweetly "I'll see you around Kiba, bye Akamaru!" Ahara picked up Akamaru and gave him a little. She ran up a hill on her way home and waved back to us. Akamaru squirmed around in my jacket and nudged me a bit, ready to get home and have his dinner, I couldn't blame him I was pretty hungry too.

(Ahara's POV)

I finally got home and I was too tired to even eat my dinner or even change for that matter, only thing I could do was brush my teeth and fall into bed. I had dreams about Kiba and Akamaru and there were a few questions that kept popping into my head. Why didn't Kiba run like everyone else in the cloud village? Why did everyone run away from me then? Why did no one run from me here? Why? Why? Why?

Tears threatened to stream down from my cloudy, confused eyes, and as I tried to fight them back I realized something I hadn't before, I thought back to when that strange tiger had attacked me and bitten me in the back of the neck in a dream a while back, and when I told this to my mother she simply dismissed what I said "Go out and play Hun, I'm Sure it was just a scary dream." Until I started having pain run up and down my neck and head. She took me to a doctor, the doctor said it looked strange and yet a bit familiar. And as he was examining the mark he froze, his eyes widened in disbelief, and he dropped his magnifying glass and as if in slow motion it flipped down to the ground making a loud crash as the glass hit the hard marble. Glass had flung everywhere. He ran to a large metal file cabinet in the corner of the drab office and began skimming through documents and mumbling, I couldn't really understand what he was saying but it was something about a curse and I heard the name 'Ouchtchoi'. It was the name of a demon, I had a whole book on them but I had thought that they were fictional. I got out of bed and looked under 'O' and found it, Ouchtchoi there was a picture of a terrifying creature it was a deep, dark purplish blue color. I stared at it for the longest time. _What is this thing? _I thought, frightened at its appearance.

I didn't see Kiba again until the fire a week later; someone had tried to blow up our house. Mother was shaking me to wake me up, she pulled me out of the house and quickly told me to stay away from the flames. She ran back into the house to get Irochou and when she was inside the house the actual explosion happened, the ground quivered. I saw a figure emerging from the fire, despite what she had told me I ran to the house, taking my brother from her and told him to run to the trees, I knew he'd be safe there. Mother was thrashing around wildly, twisting and turning in that evil glow, meters away from the door frame where I stood.

"MOM!" I screamed, plunging into the fiery house. Suddenly something had grabbed me around my stomach, it was a person in a big, bulky suit, wearing a helmet and gas mask. I kicked and squirmed, trying to brake away from their tight grasp, I stretched out my short arm, attempting to grab my mother's hand, she reached out hers as well. _Closer… closer, almost there…! _I thought, but without warning the suited stranger pulled me away to get me out. Separating us, farther, farther until she was swallowed by the flame and back into the house.

The person put me over their shoulder and began running away from the house towards other people in bulky suits I now recognized as firefighters, I started screaming and kicking them in the face and neck, then I beat on their back continuously with my clenched fists in a fit of anger.

"LET ME GO! PUT ME DOWN! LET GO OF ME!" I pleaded, tears flooding out of my burning eyes and rolling down my face. The person just continued running, then finally set me down in front of a big fire truck and went over to help his comrades put out the giant, roaring inferno.

At this point I had stopped crying. _I… I need to be strong, not only for myself but for Irochou as well,_ I thought. I was on my hands and knees, I then thought of Irochou. He was still over by the trees! I got up to run and get him, but as soon as I got up and turned towards where I'd left him I bumped into a girl.

"Oof!" she uttered out as she hit the ground, then looked up at me.

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't see you!" we both said as I helped her up. She shook her head rapidly then held it on both sides with her hands.

A tall black-haired woman came running up to us, she was carrying something.

"Irochou!" I said, once I got a closer look at what the woman was holding.

"Oh thank God, are you his sister?" the woman asked looking from me to him and back to me again.

"Yeah, um, thank you… very much" I said. The woman put her down and he toddled over to me and grabbed my hand.

After that there was a pause "Oh, I'm Miharu, Miharu Shun, 'nd this is my mom." she leaned in and whispered "Just call her Mrs. Shun, 'kay? She likes kids ta call her that." when she finished she stood up straight again.

I nodded "Nice to meet you…"

A large clump of Miharu's shiny, smooth light brown hair almost covered the entire right side of her face, she folded it back behind her ear and it fell back over her eye and cheek.

Tears came back to my eyes as a picture of mother's face came into my mind, she was smiling down at me, she'd always been such a happy person, so optimistic. The image faded and another came into my head, fire was all around and in the middle was Mother, screaming for help. For my help, the help I couldn't offer, because… I was too weak. _I have to become stronger, no matter what it takes. I will become strong!_ I thought, _I will…_

Then another thought pushed all others away and came to my attention: Our father left a few years ago, our mother just died in a fire… now what?


End file.
